Come Little Children
by LaLinea
Summary: It hade been a bad morning, really bad. And now there was a new case involving children here in Quantico. Hotch sighed as he went to meet up with his team...
1. A bad morning

**Wohooo my first case-fanfic! Well it will be when it's finished. I got the inspiration from a cover of Come little children(Hocus Pocus) arranged by katethegreat19. I find the song creepy and enchanting at the same time, so addictiv. I love it! I highly recommend looking it up at youtube before reading further for getting in the right mood. And I of course don't own any of the characters or lyrics. Enjoy! :)**

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><p><em>Come Little Children, I'll Take Thee Away<br>Into A Land Of Enchantment  
>Come Little Children<br>The Time's Come To Play  
>Here In My Garden Of Shadows<em>

Follow Sweet Children, I'll Show Thee The Way  
>Through All The Pain And The Sorrows<br>Weep Not Poor Children  
>For Life Is This Way<br>Murdering Beauty And Passions

Hush Now Dear Children, It Must Be This Way  
>To Weary Of Life And Deceptions<br>Rest Now My Children  
>For Soon We'll Away<br>into The Calm And The Quiet

Come Little Children I'll Take Thee Away  
>Into A Land Of Enchantment<br>Come Little Children  
>The Time's Come To Play<br>Here In My Garden Of Shadows

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><p><strong>A Bad Morning<strong>

Hotch was on his way to leave Jack at preschool. Jack sat beside him in the car, with thin arms folded firmly around the tiny body and a big pout on his lips. Both seemed to have got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, Jack didn't want to get out of his PJ's and whatever Hotch said didn't make any difference. After he'd resigned to his son's stubborn wishes they went down for some breakfast and Jack immediately discovered that his favorite peanut butter-cereals were almost empty. Again he insistently refused any other suggestions his father made even the Honey smacks that was the number one last week. In the end Hotch succeeded in making him eat a sandwich but now they were late, very late. A tiny but still visible irritated wrinkle was playing on his forehead as he pulled the car into the parking lot.

"I don't want to go in." Jack said sulkily.

"Don't start Jack, I'm late for work! Hotch said with his most severe voice Jack knew to well to question.

At the door they were greeted by a young, brown haired woman with blue eyes and dimples that Hotch hadn't seen before.

"Hi there! You must be Jack's father?" As she saw Hotch's puzzled look. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm Shelly and I started last week when you were away. Everybody ells are already here so I just assumed –"

"That's okay. I'm sorry I'm in a rush.." Hotch interrupted and felt a little bad over it.

"Of course you are, forgive me! She answered and smiled.

"Daaaad, will you pick me up later?" Jack looked with his big puppy-eyes on his father.

"You know I can't son, Aunt Jessica will take you to the soccer practice and I will meet up with you there if – "

"If you don't have to go away again…" Jack sighs.

"Don't be like that Jack…" Hotch never knew how to defend his work to his son, especially not after Haley's death. He loved his son and never liked to leave him, but he also knew that his wife in the end never wanted him to retire from his work. He felt obligations to both and that made his heart tare. "I have to go now."

"I hate you!"

Hotch looked like he'd been struck by lightning. He never thought he would hear those three words from his child's mouth. Maybe when he's a teenager but not now… Jacks eyes expressed a deep disappointment and anger, this was indeed not a good morning.

"Come Jack, let's go into the classroom to the other children, that's a really nice PJ you have, is that Batman?" Shelly looked back at Hotch almost apologetically as they turned a corner, he still frozen in shock. A sharp signal made him come to his senses, he looked at the screen; JJ.

"Hotch where are you?" She said in the same second he answered. "We got a new case!"

"I'm on my way." Hotch was unable to hide the frustration in his voice over the thought of having to leave for weeks again.

"No it's worse, it's here in Quantico." JJ said as if though she could read his mind. "Aaron it's children!" Hotch could hear the horror in her voice knowing the feeling all too well. She was thinking about Henry. Since they were the only ones in the team with children of their own they shared a special bond that only parents could have.

"I'll be right there." Turning the phone of he rushed off to the car. He would deal with Jack later when he'd calmed down.

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><p><strong>A short chapter I know but the next chapter will hopefully be up this week-end. Don't forget to review! It makes me all happy and warm inside. =)<strong>


	2. In The Backyard

**This took longer than expected! I got really stuck and I'm still not totally satisfied with what I came up with. But I guess you have to let it go sometime. I REALLY need your POV since I've never written a case-fic before. Please review, good or bad I need to know!**

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><p><strong>In The Backyard <strong>

"Guys! The conference room in 10!" JJ called down the bullpen, not even bothering to go down the stairs before she rushed off again.

"Yikes, she's in a hurry!" Morgan said and chuckled.

"Hmm not like her at all…" Prentiss said with a worried look.

Reid furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about it and took a gulp of his coffee just to spray his desk with the warm liquid in the next second, growling a foul line of words to follow. In the background both Morgan and Prentiss began to snicker gleefully.

"Morgan! That trick is getting so old!" Reid's eyes were fuming and he tried to wipe his tong off with his hands.

"And still you fall for it eeeverytime!" Morgan looked very smug.

"I'm going to start use sugar cubes instead of granulated sugar." Reid pouted. "Then you can't change it into salt…"

"Is that a challenge?" Prentiss grinned.

"We better head up to meet the others." Morgan got up from his desk. "Are you guys coming?"

"Right behind you!" Prentiss was still giggling as she looked back at Reid.

"I'm getting myself some new coffee first." Reid mumbled and heard his fellow agents burst out with laugh as they went up the stairs.

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><p>JJ and Rossi were occupied in a hushed conversation looking very grave as the others entered the room. Morgan and Prentiss loved a little bit of fun but stepping into that room they knew it was all business.<p>

"Reid are coming, where's Hotch?" Morgan asked as he took his usual place beside Garcia. He noticed she looked just as upset as JJ did. What was this case about really?

"He's on his way." Rossi replied at the same time Hotch came bursting in. "Sorry I'm late!" No one questioned his reasons, he was after all the unit chief.

"My god Hotch you have even darker circles around your eyes than Reid does, if that's possible." Prentiss couldn't refrain herself from comment. Reid who'd quietly sat down snorted at her remark, but both kept quiet at Hotch's grim look.

"JJ, can you please brief us about the case." Hotch said shortly.

"This one is actually right here in Quantico." JJ shivered at her own words and seemed to have trouble to continue as she handed out the case files. "I got a phone call from the local PD only an hour ago. A jogger who was running in the park found the remains of two children in different stages of decay when he went of trail." This time she lost her voice completely and Rossi decided to take over.

"They want us over ASAP to help them solve this. It's a high priority case since it involves children and it's important that no one talks to the press before we've got more to go on. "

"Garcia I want you to come with us, if you need more than your laptop it's just a short trip back to the BAU." Hotch said and Garcia nodded in compliance.

"Do we have any clues about who the children are?" Morgan asked.

"No, not yet. Their checking against missing children, but it will take a while to get a positive match since they've been exposed by the weather." Hotch said the words calmly but as the rest of them he too were feeling the same as they always did when it was kids involved. Nausea.

"Let's get to the police station and decide where we go from there, it's essential that we're on the same page." Rossi stated.

Focused on the task ahead everyone got their things and made their way to the elevator. Sure it was nice not having to go away so close to the last case, but the mere thought of that it all happened in their own "backyard" made them ice cold of fear inside.

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><p>A short and quite stubby man in his mid 50's walked against them when they entered the Quantico central police station.<p>

"Are you SSA Jennifer Jareau I spoke with this morning?" He asked, showing a pair of red and tired eyes as he came closer.

"Yes I am and this is the rest of the BAU-team; Supervisory Special Agents Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Dr. Spencer Reid and our technical analyst Penelope Garcia." JJ answered as everyone greeted him by a handshake besides Reid who did his usual awkward wave and smile.

"I'm Chief Inspector Thomas Grayson and we're very grateful that you could come with such a short notice."

"Is there anywhere we could set up?" Hotch enquired.

"We have a room just over here." Grayson pointed further back in the room. "Ms. Garcia can sit down beside Officer Langdon in the right corner, she's in charge over the missing children-search.

"Can you tell us any more new information?" Morgan wanted to know as he sat down by the table.

"We have yet to find out the identity of the children, but the coroner has narrowed the age down to between 4 and 5 years old. It is one girl and one boy and it seem that the cause of dead was by suffocation." Grayson said.

"They were smothered." Prentiss thought out loud.

"Here are the photos from where we found them." He added.

"Looks like they are neatly dressed, from what's left of the clothes" Morgan remarked.

"And the way that they're lying with their arms crossed could indicate remorse." Reid said thoughtfully.

"They look almost peaceful." Prentiss said sadly.

"All the signs indicate that the UnSub is a woman." Morgan said now pacing back and forth.

"Morgan, take Prentiss and check out the surroundings where the children were found." Hotch started to give out orders. "Reid you'll take the geographic profile, I know we don't have much to go on yet, but I'm sure Garcia will find something soon. JJ we need to find out what the press have found out before we make a statement, we don't want a full blown panic on our hand. I would like to try to find the parents before it all shows on media. Also we want to keep the unsub in the dark as long as possible so we don't jeopardize any more children. Rossi, you talk with the man who discovered it all and I'll talk some more with the Chief Inspector."

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><p>"Please let me go? I want my mummy!" Two brown eyes looked terrified at the shadowed figure that stood leaning over her.<p>

"Sshhh…hush now, it's all going to be fine."

"I don't want to go to the playground anymore. I want to go home!" The little girl said between hiccups with tears running down her pink cheeks.

"Don't worry sweetie, I will take you to a place where you can always play and never be sad again. No more argues or fights will ever bother you. Just close your eyes…"

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><p><strong>Way to short I know, still used to write one-shots. There may be changes further on, but if so you will be notified in the next chapter, promise!<strong>


	3. The Playground

_**First of all I want to send a BIG thank you for the all too sweet reviews I got for the last chapter. It wasn't many but they really made my day! Second, I want to apologize for the late update, my daily work drained all the creativity out of me but here it is, the third chapter! **_

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><p><strong>Playground<strong>

"My baby! Have anyone seen my baby girl?" A blond and usually nice-looking woman had run inside the police station and cried out the sentence over and over again making everyone turn their heads. Her hair was in a mess from the wind outside and she still had a cooking apron around her waist. JJ who just recently had talked with her media sources, made the shocked and shaking woman to sit down.

"Miss, please try to calm down and tell me everything." She said with a soothing voice and a reassuring hand on the lady's shoulder.

"It's Mrs…Annie Barryton." She said as she tried to breathe normally. "My girl, Jennifer, she's gone! She was out in the front of the house and now she's gone!" Her hand reached up and grabbed JJ's wrist in a tight grip not really knowing what ells to do.

"Hotch!" JJ got the troubled man's attention. It seemed like he was miles away in thought when he stepped out from the Chief Inspectors office. "We have a child missing. This is Mrs. Barryton." She deliberately left out to mention anything about their ongoing case so to not disturb the woman further.

"Mrs Barryton, please tell us everything you know even the tiniest detail can help us finding her." Hotch said with an equally calm voice as JJ had used.

"Jennifer had been sick for a few days and we had had an argument…" Annie's voice trembled but almost immediately continued. "She was bored and wanted to go to the playground, but I wouldn't let her go by herself, she's only 5! And I was in the middle of making cookies for the PTA…seems so stupid now! One second she was there playing with her jump rope and the next she was gone!"

"Did you see or hear anything out of the ordinary?" Hotch asked.

"No…" Mrs. Barryton's frowned as she thought back. "I think she was talking but that wasn't something strange, she has an imaginary friend you know. Actually I think it was when it went quiet as I looked outside the window and couldn't find her…" The revelation was clear in her eyes. "Do you think someone have taken her? I've always told her not to talk or go away with strangers!"

"We can't be sure of that yet, where do you live Mrs. Barryton."

"At Williams Street near the main park you know? She looked pleading at both Hotch and JJ. "Please find my little girl!"

"Let me just talk to my team, then JJ will come back to you." Hotch said to the shaken woman. "I'll call Morgan and Prentiss, they must have gotten there by now." Hotch told JJ when they could talk a little more freely.

"Then I update Reid on the geographic profile and check if Garcia has found the identity of the other children. We can't stall the media anymore I'm afraid, it seems we have a serial killer on our hand and Mrs. Barryton should make a pleading to the UnSub to not harm Jennifer and to let the family to have her back. Make sure she personalizes Jennifer. We're racing against the clock now!" Hotch rushed off and leaved JJ to do what she did best.

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><p>"Morgan."<p>

"Hi, Morgan it's Hotch, we got a suspected child-abduction on our hand, it can be related to our UnSub."

"She's escalating…" Morgan thought out loud.

"It looks like it, I want you and Prentiss to find the playground and see if you can find something suspicious. The family's house is not far from the park and she wasn't allowed to go there by herself. If we're lucky this is just a case of a run away." Morgan could tell that his boss didn't really believe his own words. "Will do, I'll keep in touch." Morgan said before hanging up.

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><p>"Garcia, what do we have?" Hotch had called Reid over and was now intensively looking at their all-knowingly goddess as she like to call herself.<p>

"I think we've narrowed it down to only two options now. I compared the estimated timeline of their death to the missing children-data base. I've called the parents and asked them to come in. I didn't tell them anything about them being dead though, that's your job!" She shivered lightly with a highly displeased look on her face.

"Thanks Garcia, give Reid their addresses in the meantime so he can start the geographic profile." Hotch turned away before getting any acknowledgement from the others. There were one more phone call he had to do and he didn't look forward to it.

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><p>"Sunflower Preschool!"<p>

"Hello, my name is Aaron Hotchner, is this Shelly?"

"No, Shelly left a couple hours ago for the dentist Mr. Hotchner, this is Megan. But she said she was going to watch the soccer practice and bring some cookies for the children later. All the kids here really love her!"

"How nice, look can I talk to my son Jake?" Hotch asked a bit impatiently.

"Sure, just hang on a second Mr. Hotchner." Megan disappeared and Hotch could hear muffled voices in the background and then a high pitched NO! He sighed and knew what was coming before the preschool teacher had even picked up the phone again. His son had not yet forgiven him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hotchner, Jack is in a bit of a bad mood today, he won't come to the phone.

"That's alright Megan, just tell him I love him." He hanged up the phone and quickly pressed number 1 on speed dial. "Jessica? Hi it's Hotch. No I don't think I will make it tonight, but I'll see you both before bedtime, okay?" God he felt tired! So much had happened in such a little time and as everyone knew the odds of finding a child alive was decreasing by the hour. He really didn't need the feeling of guilt from neglecting his son above everything right now.

"Hotch?" JJ's voice made him once again to bring him back to reality.

"Yes JJ?"

"The parents we called in made a positive ID." JJ turned her gaze to the two grieving couples, they looked broken down but yet relieved to not be living in unawareness anymore.

"Do they and have anything in common? Do they know each other?" Hotch was all back in the game now focused only on their next task.

"No, not that we could see at the first glance." She answered when Hotch's phone started to rang. "I'll go tell Garcia to look deeper." She said and left him.

"Hotch."

"Hey, Hotch, it's Morgan. We've found the girl. She's dead..."

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><p><em><strong>I will immediately confess that my knowledge of the geography of USA is quite terrible, so don't hate me if I've mixed things up. I try to stay out of it at least until I feel a bit secure in that area. It seems that I got stuck at the police station in this chapter, I want to cover so many angles but still not making it too confusing. Your opinions would greatly help! <strong>_

_**Oh, by the way here in Sweden they're currently airing Criminal mind season one Monday-Thursday at 11 PM, new episodes at Thursday 9 PM, and from Season 5 at Fridays 9 pm. Can it be better? ;) **_


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